Mobile communication devices, such as smartphones, are often carrier-locked, to restrict the devices to a particular wireless communication carrier and a specific region. A user device may be carrier locked to a wireless communication carrier via a subscriber identity module (SIM) lock engine that is located within the modem of the user device.
One of the reasons a network provider carrier locks a communication device to a particular carrier is because these devices may be offered at a discount to customers in exchange for a contract to pay for the use of the network for a predetermined time period. This subsidized device business model allows the service provider to recoup the cost of the communication device during the term of the contract. An unlocked subsidized device could be used on an alternate network for a lower fee thereby disrupting the business model.
However, wireless communication carriers may carrier unlock mobile communication devices for eligible customers upon request. For example, a wireless communication carrier may unlock a mobile communication device after a customer has completed the termed service contract. In order to distinguish between carrier unlock requests of eligible customers and non-eligible customers, wireless communication carriers may use customer service representatives as gatekeepers. Upon receiving a carrier unlock request from a customer for a mobile communication device, a customer service representative may initiate a review to ascertain whether the customer is eligible to have the mobile communication device unlocked. Following successful verification, the customer service representative may subsequently provide an unlock code to the customer for unlocking the mobile communication device. The customer then enters the unlock code into the mobile communication device at the appropriate user input interface to unlock the device. In some instances, the verification of eligibility by a customer service representative for a carrier unlock may take several days.
The duration of such unlock eligibility verification may result in poor customer experience. Further, such unlock eligibility verification may be overly burdensome when the customer is requesting a partial unlock of a mobile communication device, such as unlocking the wireless communication device for use with a foreign mobile carrier while traveling aboard. Additionally, since mobile communication devices of a particular manufacturer and model may share a common unlock code, a malicious user may use an unlock code to unlock other mobile communication devices that are otherwise ineligible to be unlocked.
Even if a mobile device may include a local unlock application that was previously installed on the mobile device (e.g., as part of the firm-ware, system software, and/or application, referred collectively herein as the “SIM unlock app”) to facilitate an automated and secure unlock procedure, it may be deactivated or lost accidentally or through malicious intervention. For example, a user of the mobile device may choose to flash the firmware of the mobile device in order to change the character of the phone. In this scenario, a user may not want to be bound to a provider's package or infrastructure provided via the firmware and system software pre-installed on the mobile device. Flashing the mobile device may remove the SIM unlock app, thereby disabling the automatic unlock capability features of the mobile device.
In another scenario, a user may download an application (e.g., utility software) that may promise to manage, maintain, and/or better control the mobile device resources. In this regard, this application may turn off or even purge what it may regard as “background processes” that are not deemed necessary. Accordingly, in its “optimization” sweep, this application may flash or deactivate the SIM unlock app, thereby removing the automatic unlock capability of the mobile device. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present disclosure has been written.